North Forest High School measures improvement in baby steps

1of 4Sonya Gilford Fontenot talks with Dayvante Brimzy, left, and James Randle in her U.S. History class. North Forest High school has been under Houston ISD supervision for one year after North Forest ISD was dissolved by the state.Photo: Billy Smith II, Staff

While most schools measure progress by test scores and scholarship dollars, North Forest High School students point to the lack of bathroom fires as a sign that their campus is improving.

They also boast that they now have access to soap, toilet paper and paper towels, which were rarities when the campus was under the North Forest Independent School District, which was so saddled with academic woes and financial mismanagement that the state ordered that it be absorbed by the Houston school district.

Other notable changes since last summer when HISD took over, according to students, are that the school is cleaner and smells better, and teens no longer congregate in the halls after lunch for a time they called "mall," as in ditching classes so they could socialize like they would at the mall.

"It was like a party," 17-year-old Jarvis Dillard recalled. "More people were probably outside class than inside."

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HISD spent more than $1.6 million on repairs at North Forest High School, including:

New fencing, an electronic marquee, security systems and telephone equipment

Landscaping and painting

Re-keying campus

Delivering 2,150 books and 3,756 workbooks for student use

Purchasing 13,914 library titles

Adding 370 computers, including 240 new ones

Renovating cafeteria with new serving lines and made-to-order options that could include deli sandwiches and Tex-Mex selections

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The way students and administrators tell it, the campus had spiraled out of control during North Forest ISD's decline. While the community didn't initially welcome the takeover ordered last year by the Texas Education Agency after a lengthy battle, students say they are thankful it finally happened.

HISD spent more than $1.6 million renovating the dilapidated northeast Harris County campus, including removing metal detectors that gave the school the atmosphere of a prison and apparently failed to keep weapons out. Students said the instances of fights and weapons have declined this year.

"Everything has become way better," said Ana Medina, 18, a senior.

HISD committed four counselors, two social workers and three police officers to the campus, where enrollment fluctuates between 960 and 1,060 - less than the 1,200 anticipated.

A $60 million rebuild of North Forest High is also planned.

The school day was extended until 4:15 p.m., and small-group tutoring was added for math. While many students and educators aren't fans of the extra hour - it cuts into after-school activities - they said they'd like to see the intervention program extended to reading.

One of the only areas that declined: The football team. Every single teacher on campus lost their job during the takeover, including favorite coaches who had just led the team to an undefeated regular season. Head coach Plez Atkins was still with the team despite having had his teaching certificate suspended from 2006-09 for an arrest relating to an improper relationship with a student.

"We did not keep one teacher," said HISD Superintendent Terry Grier.

Lots of work to be done

Pamela Farinas wasn't sure what to expect when she was tapped for the job of principal, moving from HISD's Gregory-Lincoln Education Center.

"It was everything I thought and nothing I thought in the same breath," said Farinas, a graduate of Houston's Yates High School. "It kind of depends on the day, which part of the onion you peel back ... There are days when we are shocked at what we find."

The work to be done is immense and the obstacles extreme, she said. In almost every other category, the campus had nowhere to go but up.

Test scores are well below state averages and attendance had sunk to 87 percent in 2012, 9 percentage points below the state average. Just 56 percent of high school students graduated in four years in 2012, compared to the state average of 88 percent.

More than 100 students are on probation or parole. Roughly 30 girls are pregnant or already mothers. A large percentage of students have at least one parent in jail. A significant number of students have substance abuse problems, including an addiction to synthetic marijuana called Kush. (Support groups for addiction, anger management and defiance were created this school year to help students cope and build better social skills.)

The schools reputation precedes it, with organizations denying them field trips because of students' past behavior. An out-of-state college told the principal they don't recruit from North Forest and suggested the campus consider changing its name.

It's a sentiment shared by some of North Forest High's new teachers, but not the community, and that's a battle the principal does not consider worth fighting at the moment.

"We've got bigger fish to fry," Farinas said.

A large part of the work this year has been making students understand that they are required to work hard and follow rules. It's also been a challenge to get some parents to support that mission, she said.

"That has been our clash. It's kind of a re-education: This is what school really is supposed to be like," Farinas said.

Turnover can hurt

Parent Maceo Dillard Jr., president of the Parent-Teacher-Student Association, said he's trying to focus on the positives of the improvements, although he feels like the school suffered when HISD let go of experienced teachers. Also, some students opted to transfer to Kashmere High School, where there are more extracurricular activities, he said.

"I wouldn't say it improved," he said. "They spent money on the building. They spent money on the property they inherited ... You can't tell me everything about HISD is all good and everything about North Forest ISD was bad."

Some of the new teachers were quick to leave the school, not really understanding how difficult the assignment would be. Every student at the high school is considered economically disadvantaged.

"If you weren't familiar with them, you'd be afraid of them too," the father of four said of North Forest students.

That type of turnover doesn't serve students well. This year's senior class has had a different principal every year since eighth grade, he noted.

Edward Taylor, who was hired as a science teacher after serving as an assistant principal at another restructured North Forest school, said he doesn't blame the state for dissolving the district that he grew up in.

"It's an aid to the community," he said. "(The schools) were falling down around them."

The fault lies with former North Forest ISD board members and the community that continued to elect them, said Taylor, recounting trips he made to a nearby discount store to buy tissue and paper towels for the elementary school where he worked.

"They weren't spending the money right," he said. "Things happened above the school's head that we couldn't control."

Wanted: Superheroes

Farinas, 42, who commutes more than an hour each way to work, said one of her main goals is to continue strengthening the teaching staff and to find educators who are the right fit - mainly people who refuse to fail.

"We're looking for people who feel like they should wear capes," she said.

In her wildest dreams, Farinas said she'd like to see a boarding school created in the area to insulate children from some of the hardships they face at home and in the community.

"That's me dreaming. But I always believe in speaking dreams. At least I have the courage to say it," she said.

Administrators plan to develop a five-year plan in the coming months to take the school to the next level.

"This year was about treading water," she said. "Next year, we'd like to swim a little."